Variety is reporting that Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed a three-year deal with Aardman Features, the animation studio behind Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, and Flushed Away.  The new deal comes just months after Dreamworks terminated its deal with Aardman in January.  Aardman reportedly has four scripts in advanced states of development including a new Wallace & Gromit feature directed by Nick Park, creator of the Wallace & Gromit franchise.

Aardman co-founder David Sproxton noted that under terms of the agreement with Sony, Aardman will be able to produce its features in Bristol, England.  Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature of 2005, was produced in Bristol for $50 million and earned over $200 million worldwide, while Aardman's most recent effort, Flushed Away, which was produced in Los Angeles, cost $130 million and earned just $176 million worldwide, a performance that resulted in Dreamworks taking a substantial write-down on the project and spelled the end of the Dreamworks/Aardman deal.